An Introduction to Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation

Before we get to the building blocks of pronunciation, here are a few words of advice:

To learn proper Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, you should plan to start with
a great deal of listening practice, and then receive coaching from someone who
already speaks Chinese to help you work out whichever sounds give you, individually,
the most trouble.

That
is, you may master many sounds the first or second time you hear them, but some
are bound to give you trouble for hours, days, weeks....

Even sound files
or tapes can't teach you to make the sounds that challenge you most, perhaps how
to twist your tongue and cheeks to differentiate between xi and shi,
or between chu and qu.

No, you'll need a coach.

And here's a hint: Look for a coach who can explain in clear terms and show
you what you need to do with your speech organs to make each sound properly,
such as where your tongue should go, and whether your lips should be tight or
relaxed. If a person cannot do that, that person cannot teach pronunciation
effectively.

TIP

If you're not able to find a competent "human" tutor, the next best
thing is a program that analyzes your pronunciation, comparing it to the sounds
of standard Mandarin pronuniciation, and provides feedback to help you refine
it. The best tool on the market for this is Rosetta
Stone (now with a 6-month money back guarantee).

Now, on with the show.

To get you ready for the rewarding work of learning to speak Chinese, let's
look at these pronunciation topics: